The Way It Works
by margerykempe
Summary: "Unbutton a few of those buttons and give me a look like the time you saw our high school homeroom teacher playing fast and loose with her morals at the club."
1. Chapter 1

He woke to pounding on the door. It was fitting, really. It echoed the pounding of his head. Groaning, he rolled over—right on to the girl sleeping next to him.

"_Huh,"_ he thought. _"Shit. What's her name? Sang Mi? No. Sang Yeon? Yeah. Sang Yeon. Model. Right. We did that shoot a few months ago."_

The pounding grew more insistent.

He rolled to the other side, stretching as he stood. Yawning, he padded to the front door, opening it to find an unfamiliar woman on the other side.

"Yes?" he drawled.

Her face went red and she averted her eyes quickly. "Sir, you have a photoshoot at eleven."

"Really? What time is it?"

She glanced down at her watch, keeping her eyes pointedly away from him. "Ten."

"Okay. Who are you?"

The woman finally looked back at him, shock apparent in her face. "Sir?"

"I have no idea who you are."

"I'm your new assistant, Cha Eun Sang. You called me last night after looking at my resume. You said to be here at ten this morning."

Young Do had no memory of the conversation, but then again he'd been drinking pretty heavily last night. He had no memory of Sang Mi—Sang Yeon either. "Come in. I need to get ready."

"Sir, um— Could you—cover yourself, please."

He looked down to find he was naked. "Oh. Right." He left the door open and went in search of a pair of boxers. When he reentered the living area, he found her looking around wide-eyed at the hotel room. "So, refresh my memory. What did I say to you last night?"

Her eyes snapped back to him and took in his bare chest with an appreciating glance before she flushed and looked away. "You said that you liked my resume and asked me to be here at ten for a trial run."

Young Do still had no memory of the conversation, but he was fairly sure that he'd asked her here to seduce her. She wasn't his normal type; he tended to favor the tall, willowy models he worked with. This Cha Eun Sang was petite and fresh-faced, innocuously dressed in jeans and sneakers, her hair pulled back into a ponytail.

He wondered what he'd been drinking last night. It must have been good.

Well, there was an easy enough way to get rid of her.

"Okay," he said slowly. "I'm going to take a shower. Here's your first assignment: get rid of the girl in the bed before I'm done in the bathroom and without pissing her off. If you can do that, you've got yourself a job."

She blinked in shock, but then a look of determination stole over her features. "Right."

He gave her a smirk and then headed toward the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, he exited the shower, towelling his hair dry. He strained to see if he could hear yelling. It was quiet. Wrapping the towel around his waist, he opened the bathroom door and poked his head out. The bed was empty and neatly made. Walking to the door separating his bedroom and the living area, he again popped only his head out, expecting to hear an argument. Instead, he saw Cha Eun Sang opening cupboards in his kitchen, apparently looking for something.

He swung the door open wide. "Where is she?" he asked.

She paused in her rummaging and turned to look at him. "She left. She said she'd talk you later. I'm also supposed to tell you that 'it was the most amazing night of her life.' That's a quote." The corner of her mouth turned down in disgust, but she turned away quickly and continued her search in the cabinets.

"How did you do it?" There was awe in his voice.

"I told her that I was your new assistant and that you had a shoot at eleven. I also explained how very sorry you were to ask her to leave like this, but the sooner she left, the sooner you could daydream about her. Something like that. I also told her you would call her later."

"What? I'm not—"

She cut him off. "It's not my place to say, sir, but I think you probably owe her at least that much. You wanted her out, right? She's gone and she's not mad. Those were your conditions. Now, do you prefer coffee or tea in the morning?"

His mouth opened and closed a few times as he struggled to find the words to respond. "Tea. Green tea."

"I'll get it ready. Do you have the number to your car service or are they sending one for you?"

"They're sending one. Wait a minute, I don't have her number."

She sighed as she placed the kettle on the stove. "I took the liberty of exchanging numbers with her. I had a feeling you probably didn't have it." Cha Eun Sang glanced down at her watch. "You should probably finish getting ready."

"I don't suppose you got her name too?"

She looked over at him, horrified. "You don't know her name?"

He shrugged. "Sang Mi— No wait! Sang Yeon?"

"That's Ya Sang Ah. She's one of the top models in the country right now. How do you not know who she is?"

"We didn't talk much last night." The way she looked at him made him feel foolish—it wasn't an emotion he was used to experiencing.

"Oh." She blushed again.

Young Do noticed that she blushed a lot. He wasn't sure she was going to be able to handle being his assistant if small things like that made her embarrassed. Walking back to the bedroom, he mulled over the situation. On the one hand, she had successfully gotten rid of Sang Mi—no, Sang Ah without any broken vases or furniture. On the other hand, now he was going to have to call Sang Ah and probably see her again. When he handled it, women usually stormed out and never came back after a one night stand.

"_Tricky,"_ he thought. _"Well, maybe I should see how she does today. It's been awhile since I've had a decent assistant."_

He pulled his shirt over his head then ran his fingers through his hair, considering his options. His last steady assistant was his friend from high school, Jo Myung Soo. He'd left the position once he landed a job with a major fashion magazine. To be honest, though, Myung Soo had been terrible at his job. He'd encouraged bad habits—they'd spent many a long night at the club picking up women together. Young Do missed him, but they knew it was time for both of them to get serious about their careers.

He'd hired a couple of replacement assistants, but none had stuck around long. It was evident that he'd gained the reputation of being difficult to work for—he'd just stopped trying and handled things by himself. In the past two months, though, demand had grown and he was being booked for more and more jobs. After arriving an hour late to a shoot because of a scheduling conflict, he knew that it was no longer feasible to try and manage on his own. He'd asked his agency to send over resumes for him to review.

Young Do was still not sure why he'd thought it was a good idea to review them while drunk.

Shaking his head, he walked back out into the living area. Cha Eun Sang was seated at the table, a phone in each of her hands. She looked back and forth between them, shaking her head and then typing something..

It took a minute for him to realize she was looking through his phone.

"Hey!"

"I'm entering your schedule into my phone. Well, I'm trying to at least. How is this organized? You have appointments all over the place and there are all sorts of odd abbreviations. What does 'LN' stand for? You've got it on your schedule once a month for the next six months."

He gave her a rakish grin. "It's stands for 'Latin Noona.' She's a photographer's assistant I met at a shoot. We have—mutual interests."

It took her a moment to process the information. "I don't—never mind. I suppose I'll categorize that as professional development in the calendar?"

"She's teaching me Spanish. Does that count? Of course, none of the words I've learned so far have been very useful in day-to-day conversation—"

"Please." She held up her hand. "I don't need to know anything else." She glanced at her watch again. "We should go, sir. The car is probably waiting."

"Hold on. I'm still not sure if I want to hire you."

She looked at him in panic. "But you said if I got rid of her—"

"Yes, but now I'm going to have to see her again. That wasn't part of the plan."

"Well then perhaps you should be more specific." She rose stiffly, placing his phone down on the table. "I'm sorry to have wasted your time. Your tea is on the counter."

He watched as she moved to the front door and then realized something.

"I don't know where I'm going," he admitted to her retreating form.

She turned back and looked at him. "I can do this job. You won't find anyone else as organized and thorough as I am. There's nothing that I can't do." She raised her chin proudly. "You won't be sorry."

He sighed and looked at his watch. 10:50. "Fine. We'll try it out for a week. Your next job? Call wherever I'm supposed to be and tell them I'm running late."


	2. Chapter 2

Miraculously, they made it to the shoot in record time—only five minutes late. Young Do walked in with the girl trailing closely behind him. He was immediately whisked away into hair and make-up. Through the thin curtain separating him from the main part of the studio, he could hear her speaking softly.

Suddenly, he heard a raised voice.

"—your job to get him here on time? Do you not understand how tight the schedule is today? This better be the last time—"

"YA!" Young Do yelled, startling the women working around him. "Myung Soo, is that really necessary? I'm always late."

"I'm just breaking in the new assistant for you."

"Because I need your help with that?" Young Do muttered to himself.

She raised her voice so that it carried over to him. "I'm sorry. It will not happen again. I accept full responsibility for the mistake."

He started pulling off his clothes, changing into the garments held by waiting assistants. "I haven't even decided if I'm going to keep you yet." He pulled the curtain aside and walked toward where his new assistant stood chastened in front of Myung Soo.

Young Do could see that she'd taken Myung Soo's abuse surprisingly well. She managed to look contrite and calm, all at the same time.

"_Maybe she can do this,"_ he thought.

Myung Soo was annoyed, but no more so than he usually was with him. He looked over at Young Do and made a face. "Why are you wearing a shirt? How am I supposed to titillate bored housewives if you're wearing all that clothing?"

"I thought you wanted to start taking classier photos?" he asked Myung Soo.

"That was until the editor demanded something sexier. She didn't like my concept. She told me to strip out all the 'bullshit' and come up with something else." Myung Soo shook his head sadly. "Literally. We're stripping you. That's the concept she came up with. Instead of my vision of a post-apocalyptic genderbent Alice in Wonderland, she gave me a bottle of baby oil and a whip." He sighed dramatically. "If I had known becoming successful would be like this, I think I would have kept working for you."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the girl's head whip up to look at Myung Soo. He hid a smile. "Well, you're just lucky that I'm really good at rubbing baby oil on my chest. Are you ready to get started? I'd like to finish sometime before next week."

Myung Soo rolled his eyes at him and nodded him over to the backdrop. From behind him, Myung Soo's assistant carried the camera over and then moved quickly into the background. Resting it on his shoulder, Myung Soo started barking orders. "Unbutton a few of those buttons and give me a look like the time you saw our high school homeroom teacher playing fast and loose with her morals at the club."

Young Do chuckled as he stood in front of the backdrop.

* * *

Internally, Eun Sang was in a state of complete panic as she watched Choi Young Do work. She knew absolutely nothing about being a personal assistant, especially to a celebrity. She'd been counting on her drive and determination to carry her through until she learned the ropes. As she watched the man in front of her slowly shed his clothing, she began to realize that she was completely out of her league.

Within the space of a few hours, her new employer had been undressed in front of her twice.

That had to be some sort of record.

And it wasn't that Eun Sang was a prude— It was more that she'd really never seen a naked man before. She didn't know where to look. Everywhere her eyes landed, there was a new and interesting part of the male anatomy to discover.

It was all a bit much.

Truthfully, she'd known that this would be a difficult job. Being a personal assistant was never going to be easy—at someone's beck and call nearly twenty four hours a day. When you added in ego and fame, well— She'd heard about his reputation. Most of Korea knew about Choi Young Do—only son of a wealthy family, heir to a multinational conglomerate, started modeling in college as a hobby and dropped out to pursue it full-time, against his father's wishes.

Then there were the women.

Choi Young Do had been connected with just about every famous model, actress, and socialite between the ages of eighteen and forty. Of course, there was never any solid proof, but his playboy reputation had been firmly established. In the public eye, however, he acted like a saint. He clearly knew his livelihood rested on his reputation.

Despite all that, Eun Sang felt that she was up to any challenge. When she'd gotten the phone call from him, she knew that this would be her chance to finally break in and start to establish herself in the industry.

Though, she had to admit, it was the strangest phone interview she'd ever had.

"Hello?" She hadn't recognized the number, but had applied for so many jobs that she couldn't risk not answering the call.

"Cha Eun Sang? What kind of a name is that?" she heard a slurred voice say.

"Who is this?"

"This picture is horrible. You should really have it retaken. You have nice hair, though. And your resume is good."

"Excuse me?"

"You have a journalism degree. Why the hell would you want to babysit me?" The voice was familiar, but she still couldn't place it.

"Writing news stories doesn't pay the bills; promotion and talent management does. I need experience before I can move into that type of position." She racked her brain, mentally running through the list of talent agencies that she'd applied to.

"Show up tomorrow at ten at Zeus Hotel, room 1015. I have a photoshoot at eleven tomorrow so that gives us plenty of time to—chat."

_Zeus? As in Zeus Hotel Group?_ Her palms started sweating. "Am I speaking with Mr. Choi Young Do?"

"I can be whoever you want me to be," he growled.

She was stunned into silence.

"Little bird, are you still there?" he asked after a long pause. "I didn't scare you off, did I? If you can't handle a little sexual harassment, then you probably don't want this job."

"I'm sorry, sir, but I think you're right. I don't let anyone talk to me that way, especially entitled assholes who think any woman within a one mile radius of them should swoon on demand."

_Damn. Had she really just said that?_

She was expecting him to hang up on her. Instead, she heard him laughing uproariously on the other end of the line. Eun Sang held her breath, waiting.

"Ten tomorrow, little bird. We'll give it a shot." The line was disconnected.

And so, Eun Sang found herself for the second time that day having a conversation with her mostly-naked boss.

"Ya! You!" He snapped his fingers at her. She tamped down a burst of anger at his gesture and walked over to him, keeping her eyes firmly fixed on the northern half of his torso. He looked at her impatiently. "Where's my phone?"

She reached into her shoulder bag and pulled it out, handing it to him. He mashed his fingers on the screen impatiently as Myung Soo and his assistant changed lighting filters in the background. "Stupid— I swear." He sighed loudly. "Call my agent and find out what I'm doing later. I swear I'm supposed to be somewhere at two. I thought I put it in here—"

She pulled out a notebook from her bag and opened it. "I took the liberty of calling your agent's office and introducing myself. I also confirmed your schedule with them when I was on the phone. At three you have a meeting at the office to discuss new contracts and you have a business dinner at seven."

He blinked at her. "How did you know who my agent was?"

"The internet."

"Oh. How did they know that you weren't just some crazy fan calling to find out where I would be?"

"I called from your phone. I also had them pull the list of applicants for the job. My name was on there."

"Right."

"Is there anything else I can do for you right now?"

"Uh—no."

"We're set for the next shot," Myung Soo said. Young Do nodded at her and walked back over to him.

Myung Soo pitched his voice low. "She's good. I usually make your assistants cry. She didn't even bat an eye when I yelled at her. But—" He trailed off.

"But what?" Young Do asked.

"I don't think she's ever really dealt with models before—especially male ones."

"Why do you say that?"

Myung Soo laughed. "She was very deliberately looking at your face. And she was bright red throughout your entire conversation. She was embarrassed."

Young Do had forgotten that he was mostly naked. "Huh," he replied thoughtfully.

"I think you've bagged yourself a real live virgin. I've only read about them before."

"What?" The question came out louder than Young Do had intended. He lowered his voice. "No. She can't be. She's like 25."

Myung Soo gave him a look that clearly said he was an idiot. "Not everyone sleeps around like models, Young Do."


	3. Chapter 3

The shoot ran over because Myung Soo insisted on trying a few shots based on his original concept. By the time they were done, Young Do was hungry, tired, irritable, and sticky from all the baby oil. He wanted nothing more than a hot shower, a big bowl of ramyun, and his bed—instead he had to settle for a paper cup of tea and a quick towel-off before rushing to his next appointment.

For her part, his new employee had done well. She'd been quiet and stayed out of the way until he called for her. Mostly, she'd just watched.

He heard her thanking the staff politely as he changed, telling them how much she had enjoyed her first real professional experience. He could tell some of the staff were unsure of how to respond to her gratitude given that they were used to working with high-maintenance people.

Just as they were ready to leave, she approached Myung Soo and gave him a low bow. "Thank you, sunbae. I am sorry again for the trouble I caused this morning."

Myung Soo stopped packing up his camera and looked at her. "He's the one who made you late, right?"

Her eyes widened in surprise. "No, no! It was my first day and I—"

Myung Soo cut her off. "That asshole is always late. If you ever manage to get him to one of my shoots on time, I'll treat you to dinner."

Young Do rolled his eyes. "Stop trying to get into her pants, Myeong Sook. Are you ready?"

Her eyes darted between the two men and she blushed. Nodding, she bowed again to Myung Soo, and then hurried to follow him out the door.

They settled in the back of the chauffeured town car for the ride to the agency office. Young Do closed his eyes and rested his head on the back of the seat. After a few minutes, he cracked one eye open to see what she was doing. She again had his phone and was transcribing things into a notebook.

"So," he began. "What's your background in?"

She turned and looked at him in shock. "Didn't you look at my resume?"

_Shit._ "Well, yes, but that doesn't tell the whole story." _ Nice save, Young Do._

She relaxed slightly. "Well, I have a degree in journalism. I worked at a newspaper right out of college, but there wasn't much room for advancement, and I was interested in a career in public relations and promotions."

"So you're selling out?"

She stiffened noticeably, but her voice betrayed nothing. "I suppose you could say that—I have bills to pay. But, I find the career field interesting and it plays to my strengths."

"Which are?"

She looked at him closely. "Are you sure you reviewed my resume?"

_Damn._ "Well, I glanced at it. Briefly. Last night."

"You were so drunk, I'm surprised you remember last night at all," she mumbled to herself.

"If you're going to work for me, you should understand that's a common occurrence." He wasn't ashamed—he worked hard and he played hard.

Eun Sang shifted in the seat, turning her body to face him. "Do you remember our conversation last night?"

"Well, ye—no. Not at all."

"You sexually harassed me and called me 'little bird.' And you told me that I look horrible in the picture on my resume." She crossed her arms over her chest and waited for his response.

Young Do thought that if she had her hair up in a bun and wore a pair of glasses, she would look exactly like his third grade teacher did every time she reprimanded him. "In this industry, sexual harassment is part of the job. Honestly, I think most of the time people don't even realize they're doing it—it goes hand in hand with the constant nudity and objectification of our bodies. It doesn't make it right, but you should know what you're getting into. For my part, I'm sorry for whatever I said last night. As for the resume picture, I'm assuming that it was your standard, run-of-the-mill passport photo. Those are never flattering. For anyone. I have no excuse for the 'little bird' thing."

She eyed him closely, as if gauging the sincerity of his apology. Finally, she nodded. "I understand. I'll just ask that in the future, sir, that we keep things professional. Also, I'd prefer that you call me by name rather than any sort of infantilizing nickname."

"I agree to the first part, but I'm awful at names. It's so much easier if I give you a nickname."

"I really don't think they're appropriate in a professional relationship."

"How about you stop calling me 'sir' and I keep calling you 'little bird?'"

She sighed loudly. "I find the 'little' epithet annoying. I know I'm shorter than you. I don't need you constantly rubbing that in my face."

"'Hey you'?"

"Really?"

"Okay. We can stick with 'little bird.'"

She gave him a look that let him know the discussion wasn't over, but didn't argue further. He had just started to drift off when her voice startled him back awake.

"How do you decide which contracts to sign?"

He kept his eyes closed as he answered. "Mostly ones that my agent recommends. Some come from people I know. Sometimes I close my eyes and pick one."

"You're joking?"

"Um, sure?"

She was silent for the rest of the ride.

* * *

Rachel looked up from the paperwork on her desk as he entered her office. He could tell from her expression that she was in a foul mood. Young Do wasn't surprised though—Rachel was ruthless when it came to business. It was the reason he'd continued to retain her as his agent long past the point when their parents had separated. He trusted her implicitly—they had lived through too much together to pretend otherwise—and he knew beneath the bitchy exterior she was smart, driven, and good at her job. Neither had any illusions about their relationship—there was no sisterly affection, no romantic interest. Rachel and Young Do were business partners, through and through.

She glanced at her watch. "You're on time."

"I hired a new assistant." He gestured behind him and then moved to stretch out on the couch to the left of her desk.

Rachel gave him a look of disapproval. "I sent over the resumes so that you could review them and then my office would set up the interviews. Please don't tell me you hired some piece of—"

Eun Sang stepped forward from where she'd been lingering in the doorway and bowed to her. "Hello. My name is Cha Eun Sang. I look forward to working with you."

Rachel's face went blank. She looked closely at Eun Sang, lingering on her face and clothing. "Cha Eun Sang. Oh yes. You have the journalism degree. No previous experience as a PA, though." She turned her attention back to Young Do. "This hardly would have been my top choice. You closed your eyes and picked one out of the pile, didn't you?"

He had the grace to look slightly sheepish.

"That's what I thought." Rachel rose and walked toward where Eun Sang stood, dumbfounded. "Your services will no longer be required. I'm sorry we wasted your time, but I can assure you that you will be well compensated for—"

"Excuse me," Eun Sang interrupted. "I understand that the selection process was slightly—unorthodox—but I can do this job. Mr. Choi Young Do has graciously agreed to give me a one-week trial given my lack of experience. I would appreciate if you would allow me to complete that trial period before making any decisions."

Young Do enjoyed the look of shock on Rachel's face. It wasn't often that he saw his agent stunned into silence. "Myung Soo even approved of her."

Rachel turned her back to Eun Sang and addressed him, clearly trying to remind Eun Sang of her place. "Myung Soo is hardly the best judge of character."

"No, but he does know the job and he said that he was impressed by the way she handled herself."

Rachel whirled back around to where Eun Sang stood quietly. She got uncomfortably close to Eun Sang—to her credit, she didn't back down in the face of Rachel's obvious attempt to intimidate her. Eun Sang continued to look calmly at Rachel as the silence between them stretched.

Finally, Rachel stepped back. "One week. You get him there on time to his shoots, keep him from making an ass of himself, and make sure he eats something besides ramyun. If you manage that, we'll talk about taking you on full-time as his assistant. Do you understand?"

Eun Sang gave her a respectful bow. "Of course."

Rachel stepped close to her again, obviously catching her off-balance as Eun Sang started in surprise. "One more thing: your job is to see to all of his needs, except one—do not sleep with him. Don't fool yourself into thinking that he will fall in love with you or that you can use him to further your own personal interests. That's not how Choi Young Do works and I don't have any use for women who try to get ahead using their bodies instead of their brains."

"You don't have to worry about that, Rachel. She's hardly my type," he chimed in from the couch.

Rachel moved back behind her desk and sat down. "That's the only thing keeping me from firing her immediately." She glanced up to where Eun Sang stood, bright red and obviously unsettled by the turn the conversation had taken. "Are you going to sit down? I'd like to get through the list of upcoming shoots before we tackle the contract requests."

Eun Sang's face reddened even more, but she quickly moved to sit in the chair opposite the couch and pulled out her notebook and a pen. "I'm ready."


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, Eun Sang woke early and dressed quickly, making it out the door just as the sun rose for her trek across the city to her employer's residence.

As she walked the last few blocks to the hotel, she breathed in deeply, enjoying the cool morning air. Luckily, Eun Sang had always been a morning person. It was her favorite time of day—when the world was quiet with the promise of the day to come.

She smiled to herself. Finally, it seemed as if things were coming together for her. A new job and a fresh start—it had been time. Honestly, she was lucky. Working as the personal assistant to such a famous model meant that she would be able to gain valuable experience and develop contacts within the industry.

And how hard could the job be, really? Yes, Choi Young Do seemed a little difficult and his personality left something to be desired, but Eun Sang prided herself on being able to make the best out of any situation. She'd had enough practice in her short life—

She tamped down that train of thought immediately. There was no use in feeling sorry for herself.

By this time, she'd reached the tenth floor and rapped softly on the door to Choi Young Do's hotel suite. She waited for a moment, but heard no signs of movement from within. She knocked again, harder this time. Again, no movement. Pulling out her phone, she pulled up her employer's number and dialed. The phone went straight to voicemail.

Sighing, she looked around the corridor and winced before banging firmly on the door. Finally, she heard a muffled sound from within and a few minutes later, the door swung open.

Her employer was once again naked.

"_Does he own any pajamas?"_ She averted her eyes. "Good morning!" She forced her voice to remain chipper.

He looked at her for a moment, confused. He swayed slightly on his feet—afraid he was going to collapse, she stepped forward and slipped her body under his arm. He leaned on her.

It was then she smelled the alcohol.

"Are you drunk?" she asked incredulously.

"What time is it?" he slurred.

She shifted his weight slightly and looked at her watch. "It's 7:30."

"Well, I stopped drinking at 6:00 and I got home twenty minutes ago, so I would say the answer is yes. I'm definitely drunk." He straightened and pushed away from her, moving to lean against the door frame.

"But Ms. Yoo said that you normally go to the gym at 8:00. She sent me a message and told me to come by and make sure you were awake."

"That little— Get in here." He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her the rest of the way into the darkened room, slamming the door shut behind her. He whirled her around to face him. "Listen, you work for me. She might sign your paycheck, but if I'm not happy, she's not happy. So if she sends you any more cute messages about my supposed schedule, delete them. Got it?"

She looked at him for a long moment before responding. "Excuse me, sir, but it's very hard to take you seriously when you're naked."

He moved swiftly towards her, backing her up against the wall. Raising his arms to trap her in place, he bent down and brought his face close to hers. "What is your obsession with my nudity? Does it make you uncomfortable?"

Everything about the situation that Eun Sang currently found herself in was making her uncomfortable—she was extremely close to an attractive, naked man and they were alone in his hotel suite. She took a deep breath and forced herself to appear calm. "Truthfully, yes. But right now I'm more concerned with the fact that you have to film a commercial at noon and I'm not sure how I'm going to get you sobered up quickly enough."

He looked confused by her response. "What?"

"You're supposed to be on set at noon. That was the other part of the message Ms. Yoo sent."

She saw a look of panic flit over his face. "I don't remember Rachel mentioning anything about this yesterday."

"From what I gather, you're a last minute replacement. The drama actor they had scheduled dropped out."

He backed up and looked flustered. "Damn. Damn it. Rachel!" He looked around wildly, finally locating what he'd been looking for—his phone. Scooping it up, he punched wildly at the screen—he threw it in frustration and it skidded across the floor. He snapped his fingers at her. "Mine's dead. Phone."

"Please don't throw it," she said as she handed him her phone.

He rolled his eyes at her and stomped off to the bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

Eun Sang sighed and looked around. She moved to the window and pulled the drapes back, allowing the morning sun to spill in. Looking around, she noticed his clothing flung around the room—a sock draped on the lampshade, his jeans in a ball on the floor. Sighing, she started picking them up, straightening the furniture as she went along. As she picked up his t-shirt, something else fell to the floor. Eun Sang bent and picked it up—it was a pair of his boxers. _Are these—_ She examined them more closely. _No way._ The boxers were adorned with a rather delightful rubber duck pattern. Eun Sang was fairly sure that the ducks also glowed in the dark.

The door to his bedroom swung open and she jumped, hiding her hand behind her back. She felt her face flush immediately. Young Do walked out fully dressed and disconnected the phone. "Why do you look like that?" he asked.

She felt her face redden further. "Like what?"

"Like you got caught with your hand in the cookie jar."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

He shook his head. "Whatever. Are you ready to go?"

"Where are we going?"

"To sober up." He started toward the door. "Are you coming?"

"Yes." She nodded. She waited until he was out of sight and threw his underwear behind the couch. Then she jogged to the door, racing to keep up with him as he left the suite.

* * *

The car took them through backstreets and alleys until they reached a small storefront restaurant with four seats. As they entered, an older woman walked out from behind the counter, her arms wide to embrace Choi Young Do.

She pulled away and pinched his cheek. "Where have you been? It's been a month!"

"I'm sorry, ahjumma. I've been very busy."

"Naughty!" The woman caught sight of Eun Sang and smiled widely. "Ah! I see! You've been very busy. Please introduce me to your lovely girlfriend."

Eun Sang tripped over her words, "Ahjumma, no—"

Young Do cut her off. "This is Cha Eun Sang." He gave Eun Sang a mischievous smile. "Please greet her properly," he ordered.

She glared at him. "Hello, ahjumma. It's nice to meet you. My name is Cha Eun Sang. I'm Mr. Choi Young Do's personal assistant." Eun Sang bowed.

The older woman gave Young Do a look of annoyance. "So, not your girlfriend then? It's a shame. It's about time you have a nice young woman instead of those fast girls you're always with in the newspapers."

"I'll try harder next time, ahjumma. In the meantime, can I please have some haejangguk?"

The older woman patted his face again. "Of course." She turned and looked at Eun Sang. "Would you like something?"

"Oh no, ahjumma. Thank you." The woman smiled at her and walked off.

"Eat," he said as he moved to sit at one of the small tables. "It's going to be a busy day and we may not have lunch."

Eun Sang tried to remember if she had any money in her wallet. "It's okay. I already ate this morning."

He paused in the act of arranging his utensils. "Don't lie to me, little bird." He looked up at her. "Please don't tell me you're worried about your weight? You're not the one who's going to be stripping down in a few hours."

"No, it's not— I'm just not hungry," she said, with more determination than she felt. Just then, her stomach rumbled in response to the smells from the kitchen.

It was embarrassing, really, but she had been between jobs for so long that she had all but drained her savings. She had a cup of coffee this morning, but that was all—she was trying to make it until her first paycheck.

"Ahjumma! Bring another bowl. And some sides." He lowered his voice. "Sit. Eat. My treat."

She lowered herself into the chair across from him. "Thank you," she said softly.

Just then the older woman brought a large tray of food and started arranging it on the table in front of them. They were silent as they ate.


	5. Chapter 5

Choi Young Do tipped the ahjumma extravagantly when he paid the bill. It was half the reason the older woman was always so happy to see him. Of course, he appreciated the fact that she didn't alert the press when he came to eat, so it was a mutually beneficial relationship. Plus, her hangover soup was some of the best he'd ever had.

Little bird had been quiet throughout the meal, somewhat surprisingly. It suited him fine, though. His head was pounding.

He was also fairly sure that Rachel was simultaneously punishing him and testing his new assistant by agreeing to this last minute commercial shoot. Rachel knew how much he hated film work—in fact, he remembered telling her that if she ever booked him for another commercial again, he'd fire her as his agent.

Obviously she was calling his bluff.

Sighing, he closed his eyes and leaned back into the seat, listening as Cha Eun Sang climbed in beside him and gave the driver directions.

After a moment, she spoke: "You should probably read through the script."

He sighed. "Why? It's probably two lines. I'll memorize it when I get there."

"Don't you want to at least look over the concept?"

"If Rachel approved it, I'm sure it's fine."

"There's a baby."

His eyes flew open. "What?"

"There's a baby—in the commercial."

He grabbed the script from her hands and started flipping through. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he dialed Rachel's number.

She answered on the first ring. "Yes, you have to do it."

"I thought we went—"

Rachel cut him off. "They threw a lot of money at you. A lot."

"I don't care if they offered me Seoul Tower, I'm not going to do it. I told you: no kids, no animals."

"Do you know who you're replacing?" Her voice was cold. "Kim Soo Hyun."

The news shocked him into silence for a moment. "Oh."

"Yes. Do you understand now? Listen, we both know this isn't about the money for you. You're running away from—whatever—but this could be it, Young Do. The fact that they even considered you as a replacement, let alone called me and made an extremely generous offer— You could finally move beyond the print modeling—dramas, movies, whatever you want."

He was quiet and he could feel Cha Eun Sang's eyes on him. "Rachel, I don't know. It just seems like a lot of work and—"

"If you won't do it for yourself, do it for me."

Once again, he was at a loss for words. "Rachel, I—"

"Let me make you a star. Work for a few years and then quit. Move to Fiji with all your money. I don't care. But if I make your career, then I'll have people lining up for me. I'll be out from under my mother's thumb." The tone of her voice changed—she sounded tired and strained. "You have to understand that, if nothing else."

It was as close to the word "please" as he'd ever heard come out of her mouth.

He sighed and scrubbed his hand over his face in a gesture of defeat. "Fine. But no more back door, last minute deals, okay? We talk jobs over before you agree to them."

Her voice had returned to it's normal business-like tone. "Agreed. Don't fuck this up." Young Do heard a click as she disconnected the phone.

He looked over and met Cha Eun Sang's concerned gaze. "What?"

"Will you be okay?" Her voice betrayed her doubts.

"Sure. I just hope I don't drop the baby."

He smiled to himself as he saw her eyes widen in shock.

* * *

The minute Eun Sang saw the script and storyboards for the commercial, she knew they were in trouble. After being hired as his assistant, she'd made it a point to research Choi Young Do's previous work—it was all runway and high concept fashion modeling with the odd commercial clothing campaign thrown in. Nothing like today's shoot.

From a business standpoint, though, it was clear that Rachel's client was about to make it big and this would potentially be the campaign to do it. Eun Sang fully understood why Rachel had made the last minute deal.

On the other hand— Baby.

She sighed as she watched him sitting in make-up, people bustling all around.

He was nervous. It was obvious only to someone who had made a study of his habits, but it was there nonetheless. His fingers twitched, obviously longing to rub at his eyebrows—he'd almost succeeded once, but one of the stylists batted down his hand in a practiced gesture of annoyance. From behind her, she heard the baby cry. Eun Sang watched as Choi Young Do tensed slightly in response.

This was going to be a very long day.

Finally, the stylists stepped back, seemingly satisfied with their work and Choi Young Do got up and walked over to where she stood, just out of the way of the crew. He turned so that they were side-by-side, both looking out at the busy studio. She knew that he was making a concerted effort to appear nonchalant.

"I need you to stay close by me," he said out of the corner of his mouth.

She kept her eyes fixed on the lighting technicians working a few feet from where they stood. "Haven't you ever been around kids before?"

"No."

"Well, she's a baby. You won't be interacting that much."

He turned to look at her. "She?"

"Yes. It's a little girl."

From the corner of her eye, she saw him tense again. "Oh."

"Why are you so nervous?"

"I'm not nervous. I just don't like kids. They're small and they smell like milk."

The director came over to where they stood. "Thank you for taking this on with such short notice. We're ready for the first shot." He gestured for Choi Young Do to proceed him. She stayed where she was and watched as the woman holding the baby approached Choi Young Do and tried to place her in his arms. Eun Sang observed as he had an awkward conversation, apparently trying to determine the best way to hold the baby. In the middle of a sentence, his head snapped up and he looked around wildly before locating her. He shot her a look, though his face remained impassive.

Sighing, she walked over, catching the tail end of the woman's reply. "...hold her close to your body. You'll do fine." He moved his arms into an awkward position, trying to mimic the woman's stance.

Eun Sang moved to stand behind him, placing her hands on his shoulders and squeezing to try and release his tense muscles. "You have to relax. You're not going to hurt her." She moved her hands to his forearms, positioning them so that he would be able to cradle the baby securely. "Try that," she said and then moved around to watch as the woman placed the baby in his arms.

He held her for a moment, seemingly getting used to her weight and the small movements she made as she shifted in his arms to find a comfortable spot. He looked down, watching intently as the baby yawned and then settled into a deep sleep. Choi Young Do looked up at her in awe.

Eun Sang felt her heart contract slightly and she knew that her momentary emotional response meant trouble. She broke eye contact with him and moved into the shadows as the director stepped forward to begin filming.


	6. Chapter 6

After the shoot, Young Do felt exhausted. He'd been tense throughout, worried that he'd somehow hurt the baby. She'd mostly slept, though one time he swore that she'd smiled at him. His neck and shoulders were aching from the strain of holding a fifteen pound baby—it made him feel slightly emasculated knowing something so small could kick his ass so thoroughly.

The shoot wasn't as bad as he had expected it to be. Still, he wasn't going to be changing his mind about animals any time soon.

He scooted into the backseat of the car and felt his body relax into the leather. The seat dipped slightly as little bird scooted in beside him.

She was good with the baby.

He recognized the stirrings of desire when he felt her move behind him and position his arms to hold the baby. It was odd, really, but he assumed that it was because he needed to get laid. It had been— _Shit. Had it really been almost a week?_ He planned on rectifying that situation tonight.

Pulling out his phone, he typed a message to Myung Soo: _"Club?"_

A moment later, his phone buzzed with Myung Soo's reply: _"Are you bringing your assistant?"_

Young Do sighed—so he wanted to play this game. _"Why would I bring work with me?"_

"_Bring her."_

"_No."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because I don't need to deal with the hassle of hiring a new assistant when you sleep with her and never call her back."_

"_It's not like that."_

"_Then why do you want me to bring her?"_

"_Okay. Maybe it's exactly like that."_

"_Fuck you, buddy. She's actually decent at her job. I'd like to keep this one for awhile."_

"_Oh. So that's what's going on."_

Young Do stared at the screen for a moment before replying. _"What are you talking about?"_

"_You've got the hots for her."_

"_You're crazy."_ He snorted softly to himself as he sent the message.

"_You've never cockblocked me before."_

"_I'm not cockblocking you."_

"_Then bring her."_

"Is everything okay? You're scowling at the phone." Eun Sang's voice was hesitant. He looked up and noted the concerned look on her face.

"Yes." He cleared his throat. "Yes," he said again. "It's just someone annoying me." His phone buzzed again and he looked down.

"_You don't want to bring her. That proves it."_

"Little bird." He didn't look up from the phone as he spoke. "You're going to have to work late tonight. Do you have anything else to wear? Something a bit—" He trailed off.

"A bit what?"

He hesitated a moment. "Slutty?"

Her face went red. "Ex—excuse me?"

"I'm sorry. It's the first word that came to mind."

"How about trying to find a second and third word, then?"

Young Do was surprised by her reaction. "You're mad?"

She exploded. "Yes, I'm angry. You're telling me that I have to 'work late.'" She used her fingers to make quotation marks—ostensibly to further underscore her outrage, but Young Do instead found it hilarious and struggled to keep a straight face. She didn't notice. "Then you tell me I need to wear something 'slutty?'"

"That came out wrong."

"I would agree."

"Do you have something to wear to a club?"

"A club?" She was surprised. "Why would I go to a club?"

He realized that in order to prove Myung Soo wrong, he was going to lose his opportunity to work out his—tension. "Uh—because I need a designated driver."

She was confused. "You have a driver." Eun Sang gestured to the front seat of the car.

"Ah—yes, but—" He racked his brain for another excuse. "You should probably keep me from drinking too much. Don't I have something going on tomorrow?"

"Yes, you've got another shoot, but it's not until the afternoon." Her gaze was suspicious. "And you'll listen to me when I tell you it's time to stop?"

Young Do placed his hand over his heart. "I promise." He could tell she wasn't buying it, but she didn't protest further.

"Well— I need to go home to change, I guess."

"We can drop you off." He turned his attention back to his phone.

"NO!" The vehemence of her response surprised him and he looked up again. Her face was bright red. "I'll just take the bus."

"It's no problem. It's still early and the traffic isn't bad. Where do you live?" Young Do leaned forward, preparing to catch the driver's attention.

"Really. I don't want to inconvenience you, sir." They both noted her regression to formal speech.

He pushed back, curious about her reaction. "It's not an inconvenience. Where do you live?" The question made it clear that there was to be no further argument.

When she rattled off her address, her eyes not meeting his, it was all he could do not to react. It was a wonder she hadn't been mugged—maybe she had. He forced himself to remain impassive as he leaned forward and repeated the address to the driver.

"So, how long have you lived there?" _Stupid. She'll see right through this line of questioning._

"For a while." Her voice was quiet.

"Oh. Do you like it?" _Of course she doesn't like it._

"It's fine."

"Okay."

They were silent until the car pulled up in front of a rough looking storefront twenty minutes later.

"Do you want me to walk you up?" he asked quietly.

"No. It's fine."

He peered out, trying to make out the neighborhood in the dim light. "Are you sure?"

"I've lived here a long time. It looks worse than it actually is." She popped the door handle and started to climb out.

"I'll pick you up at eight."

Eun Sang stopped and looked back at him. "Okay. See you later, sir."

The "sir" was back.

He watched as she fumbled with a set of keys in the faint light of a streetlamp. After shoving the key into the lock, she jiggled it back and forth a few times before the lock gave way. Forcing the door open with her shoulder, she created a crack in the door just large enough for her to slip through. The door groaned shut behind her.

His phone vibrated again and he looked down.

It was a message from Myung Soo. _"So?"_

"_She's coming—but this one's different. She's not going to fall for it."_

"_We'll see."_

"Yes, we will," he said to himself. He looked back out the window at the crumbling doorway she'd disappeared into. "We will."


	7. Chapter 7

Standing in the middle of her one room apartment, surrounded by her stacks of books, she considered faking illness.

_He would know._

Eun Sang sighed and walked over to her miniscule closet. Opening the door, she stepped back and considered her options: jeans, jeans, jeans, t-shirts, school uniform, jeans, sweatshirts. In the corner, she found a button down shirt that she didn't remember buying. She slipped it on, pleased that it kept her mostly covered. She exchanged her loose, comfortable jeans for a pair of skinny jeans that she'd only worn once before. Her shoe situation was dire—two pairs of off-brand Chuck Taylors: one black, one red. They'd both seen better days. She took the black pair over to the sink and scrubbed off some of the dirt and scuffs. They would have to do.

There was no avoiding it now.

She looked at herself in the mirror. Sighing, she dug around in the small bag of toiletries she kept by the sink, finally coming up with lip gloss and black eyeliner she'd purchased when she'd had a crush on the barista that had worked down the street from the newspaper office. While applying the eyeliner, she managed to poke herself in the eye only twice, which was a new record. Finally, she pulled her hair out of the ponytail and shook it out.

She felt ridiculous, but the effect wasn't bad. She looked kind of tough, which was probably better than nothing. Eun Sang wasn't good at being sexy or pretty or girly—then again, she was going to the club for work, not for fun. It really didn't matter what she looked like.

Her phone chimed and she looked down to see a message from Choi Young Do: _"Time to flee your cage, little bird."_

The way he talked to her like he knew her made her angry.

She had known men like him before—men who thought that their attractiveness or their wealth meant that women owed them something. They went through life without having to think about the act of living—of survival. It was all so easy for them. Eun Sang envied men like Choi Young Do; she hated them a little.

Shaking herself, she once again glanced at her reflection in the mirror. She hardened her face into an impassive mask and grabbed her bag, slinging it over her shoulder as she closed her apartment door behind her.

* * *

Young Do tapped his fingers on the door to the car as it idled outside of her apartment. A slight movement caught his attention and he turned to peer out through the window. He could just make out her small form in the darkened doorway as she struggled with the lock. He slid over on the seat to allow her to enter on the passenger side. The overhead light flipped on as she opened the door to climb in.

He felt a rush of desire.

He'd never seen her hair down before and it was glorious—all wild waves and tangles. He wanted to put his hands in it. Very badly. His fingers itched with the desire to grab handfuls of it and—

He shook himself and shifted uncomfortably in the seat. The light clicked off as she shut the door. They sat in the darkness for a moment—she was quiet and he hoped that she hadn't noticed his momentary lapse.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

"Yes. Absolutely. Ready. Let's go." He leaned forward and knocked on the partition. A moment later, the car pulled away from the curb.

"_Damn, damn, damn," _he thought. _"I really need to get laid. I can't do this. I can't be like this with her. She's not even my type."_

"So," he said, desperate to distract himself. "That's not really what I was expecting when I said 'slutty.'"

_Fuck. Did I really just say that?_

"You'll have to forgive me, sir. I'm not one for going out. I figured that it really didn't matter what I wore since I'm really just there to babysit you."

He'd apparently hit a nerve. "You don't have to come, you know. But this is part of my life—my lifestyle. This is what you're going to have to deal with if you continue working for me. I won't apologize for the way I choose to spend my time."

"You're right, of course. I apologize. That was inappropriate." He could hear the hesitation in her voice.

He felt a little thrill of excitement. Her reaction told him that this was something he could use.

"Maybe this isn't the right job for you, little bird. You've done well so far, but I feel like maybe it's too much. Models are naked a lot, but every time I'm naked around you, you blush. You're going to have to toughen up a bit if you want to succeed in this industry."

She was silent for a long time and he wondered if maybe he'd pushed her too far.

"I understand. I hope you'll give me another chance. I'm driven—I can do well in this job." Her voice was low and he was having trouble interpreting her tone. He wished that it wasn't so dark so that he could see her face.

He decided to push her a little farther, just to see what would happen.

"I won't make any decisions now, but let's see how things go tonight. I need someone who can learn to be comfortable around me—we'll be together an awful lot from here on out." He pitched his voice low. "Do you want to be with me?" It was the voice he reserved for seduction and it had near a one hundred percent effectiveness rate. She couldn't have missed the innuendo in the question. Young Do struggled to keep a straight face, even knowing that she couldn't see him in the darkness.

"Yes, sir." Her voice was breathy and it took him off guard.

"_Wait. Is she flirting back?"_ He felt his body respond. "I—"

She shifted on the seat and slid close to him—so close that he could smell her shampoo. "I want to be with you." Her mouth was close to his ear and he closed his eyes in response to her nearness. Her tone shifted abruptly. "But if you think that this relationship is going to be anything but professional, you're sorely mistaken." His eyes flew open in shock. She slid away from him and crossed her arms over her chest, pointedly staring out the window.

Young Do struggled to gain control over himself—he was half angry, half amused by her response. Mostly he was trying to hide his obvious "reaction" to her.

He needed to get laid.

"So I guess it won't be a problem if I bring someone home with me tonight?" he asked, finally regaining his composure.

"I'm not your mother. You're a grown man. I'm just here to make sure you're not completely hungover for your shoot tomorrow." Her voice was clipped.

"Good. Glad we've reached an understanding then."

"Yes."

They didn't speak for the rest of the car ride.


	8. Chapter 8

The club was wall-to-wall bodies, but the raised VIP section was quieter and significantly less crowded. It afforded a nice view of the dance floor and allowed for some measure of privacy—crucial to his ability to relax without the constant annoyance of giggling girls and jealous boyfriends. As he rounded the corner, he was surprised to find the section nearly empty, with only Myung Soo and a few of his male friends. Young Do watched his friend's face change as he saw Cha Eun Sang trailing behind him.

"Where is everyone?" Young Do asked warily as he approached the seating area.

"What do you mean?" Myung Soo appeared confused, but Young Do knew he was acting for her sake. "Cha Eun Sang! It's so good to see you again!" Myung Soo stepped around Young Do and approached Eun Sang with his hand extended. She was surprised, but recovered quickly and gave Myung Soo a genuine smile as she greeted him.

Myung Soo was up to something. Young Do didn't like it.

Deftly, Myung Soo maneuvered Cha Eun Sang to the seating area and began introducing her to his friends. He stood watching her for a moment, shaking hands and smiling at each man in turn. Young Do recognized one of the men as a stylist—another was a fashion director for a home shopping channel. It was an odd assortment.

Young Do continued to mull the situation as Cha Eun Sang and the men fell into easy conversation. Her interaction with them was fascinating to watch—she was engaged and charming and Young Do watched as the body language of the men around her changed—they were interested in her.

The realization surprised him.

She was pretty enough he supposed, but these men were surrounded by stunningly attractive women all day long. What was it about her?

His thoughts were interrupted by her laughter. She stood, said something, and then smiled at the assembled men before brushing past him with a glare.

In her absence, Myung Soo finally approached him. "You look like an asshole sitting over here by yourself."

"What's your angle? I've been sitting here trying to figure it out."

Myung Soo stared at him in surprise. "You really don't know? Don't you know anything about her?"

"What?"

"Cha Eun Sang is ambitious—career driven. She wants to succeed. She's not one of those girls that goes after money or celebrity. This is the way to her heart—well, into her pants. These men represent industry connections. And who brought them together for her? Me." Myung Soo spoke the last word with a flourishing bow.

"You could have brought some women too," Young Do grumbled.

"I had a hunch about that—and I think I'm right."

"What do you mean?"

"She's more comfortable interacting with men than women."

Young Do considered the possibility that Myung Soo was perhaps better with women than he was. It kind of pissed him off. "She did fine with Rachel."

Myung Soo snorted. "Rachel's barely human, let alone female. That's hardly the best example."

"Don't talk about Rachel like that." It made him angry when people who didn't understand Rachel passed judgement on her behavior. Young Do quickly changed the subject. "Isn't this a little obvious, though?"

"I know. I thought that too, but she hasn't—" Myung Soo broke off mid-sentence as Cha Eun Sang walked back up the stairs, a bottle of water in hand.

Young Do watched as Myung Soo steered her back to the group of men, hand on her lower back. The agreement had been that he had to bring Cha Eun Sang here—he didn't have to make it easy for Myung Soo to succeed. He stood up and walked over to the couches, ready to ruin his friend's night.

* * *

Eun Sang was instantly wary as she watched her employer stop glaring from a few feet away and move to join the circle of men surrounding her. Trying to cover her nervousness, she took a drink from her water bottle. The group went quiet as he pushed his way through to sit beside her on the couch. There were looks exchanged among a couple of the men—Eun Sang couldn't interpret them.

"Nice of you to finally join us," Myung Soo said in an amused voice.

Choi Young Do was silent.

After an awkward moment, conversation resumed, but Eun Sang was aware of the near constant presence of Choi Young Do's gaze. She was fairly sure that he was simply trying to unnerve her—unfortunately it was working.

The attention from the group of men was flattering, if a little obviously staged for her benefit. She suspected that Jo Myung Soo organized this as a part of his seduction process—he had made his interest clear at their first encounter. Eun Sang gave him credit though—it was a brilliant move appealing to her ambition. She felt no shame in taking advantage of the opportunity, despite the fact that she had no intention of sleeping with him.

Her plan had been going brilliantly until her brooding employer had joined the group. The glaring and eye-rolling was beginning to wear on her.

"Would you like to dance?" Eun Sang shook herself from her thoughts and looked up to see Myung Soo standing next to her, hand outstretched. Normally, Eun Sang wasn't much of a dancer and she knew that this was probably Myung Soo making a move, but she was so annoyed with Choi Young Do that she moved to take his hand.

"Nope. It's a condition of her contract that she keep me out of trouble. I'm about ready to find some, so she's going to have to come with me." Choi Young Do stood and started walking down the stairs without waiting to see if she'd follow.

Eun Sang stared after him for a moment, dumbfounded. Then she turned back to Myung Soo with a guilty shake of her head and followed after her employer.

* * *

She found him standing at the bar on the bottom level of the club, surrounded by fawning women who were rapidly closing in around him. He didn't seem to notice the throng as he attempted to catch the bartender's attention. Eun Sang sidled up next to him and quickly caught the bartender's eye.

"What do you need?" the man asked, giving Cha Eun Sang a big grin as he walked over.

Eun Sang cocked an eyebrow at Choi Young Do.

"Tequila. Two shots," Choi Young Do said, giving Eun Sang a rakish smile.

The bartender grinned again and nodded, then moved to pour the liquor.

"Double-fisting it tonight, are we?" Eun Sang didn't keep the annoyance out of her tone. She was already dreading tomorrow's inevitable nude discussion at her hungover employer's hotel room door.

"One for me, one for you, little bird."

"I don't drink."

"Humor me."

"I don't think there's anything funny about it." She noticed that the bartender had taken an obvious interest in their exchange. She needed to shut this down before it made it to the online gossip sites. "Fine. One shot."

Choi Young Do's face grew serious. "You don't have to. It's okay."

She sighed. "It's fine—standard employee/employer bonding. It happened all the time at the newspaper. I just lost my taste for it after awhile."

He examined her closely before nodding. "Okay." Picking up the shot glass, he turned and winked jauntily at the crowd of women that had formed behind them and tossed it back, reaching for a lime. She heard some of the women sighing dramatically as he sucked on the wedge.

Rolling her eyes, she picked up her own shot glass and raised it towards him in a salute before tilting it back. Scrunching up her nose, she sucked on the lime wedge in a much less attractive fashion. Sticking her tongue out, she made a noise of disgust. "Ugh."

"You took that surprisingly well for—"

"For a girl?"

"For someone who stopped drinking."

"Oh."

"But I can make a sexist remark if it makes you feel better," he said, with a cocky smile.

She felt the alcohol start to loosen her joints. "I'll pass. Thanks."

"Are you ready to go back up to your harem?"

She snorted. "Is that what it is? I thought they were only interested in me for my mind."

"Well, I'm sure that's an attraction, but really Myung Soo's just—"

"Trying to get into my pants?"

He leaned back on the bar and looked at her thoughtfully. "So you figured it out?" He rubbed his hands together in glee. "I told him it wouldn't work."

"Wait, you knew about this?"

"Of course. He's my best friend. That's not to say I condoned his actions."

The alcohol had to be impairing her judgement ever so slightly—Eun Sang wasn't furious so much as amused by the machinations of men acting like adolescents. There was a tiny part of her brain that tried to sound the alarm at her reaction, but she ignored it.

"Ready?" he asked again.

An idea popped into her head. "Yes, but first, tell me more about Jo Myung Soo."


	9. Chapter 9

Young Do wasn't quite sure what his little bird was up to, but he was fairly confident that it was going to be entertaining. She'd asked him several probing questions about Myung Soo while downing another two shots. Finally, she'd declared herself ready and walked off toward the VIP area, leaving him to follow behind.

As he ascended the stairs, he saw that she'd sat down next to Myung Soo and moved in close. The rest of Myung Soo's friends seemed to have disappeared or were engaged in conversations elsewhere—Eun Sang had his full attention. Her body language wasn't overt, but it was clear that she was engaged in the conversation. He stopped to watch the moment play out. As she spoke, a smile spread across her face and she reached up to play with a strand of her hair. The action appeared absentminded, but he'd never seen her engage in such a frivolous gesture before.

Young Do's eyes snapped over to Myung Soo. He knew his best friend well enough to know that Myung Soo was eating it up. Slowly, he moved closer, straining to overhear their conversation.

"...your expertise. Would you be willing to teach me?" he heard Eun Sang ask. Young Do watched as she placed her hand on Myung Soo's forearm.

"Of course. It may mean long hours, though. We'd be spending a lot of time together." Triumph was written all over Myung Soo's face.

"I don't think that's going to be a problem." Eun Sang voice was low and breathy—Young Do had to strain to make out her words over the background noise of the club. "What's your address? I'll start moving my things over tomorrow."

"Wh-what?"

Eun Sang moved her hand up and down Myung Soo's arm in a comforting gesture. "Wouldn't it be easier if we just moved in together? Can't you just see it? Living together, working together—" She trailed off and looked deeply into his eyes. "Didn't you say that you felt like our meeting was fate?"

"I—uh—"

Young Do couldn't contain himself any longer—laughter exploded out of him. In the space of just a few minutes, little bird had honed in on Myung Soo's deepest fear—commitment. The sound of his laughter startled Myung Soo and he looked over at Young Do in confusion.

"I told you this one was different," he said, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

"You told her?" Myung Soo asked accusingly as understanding dawned on his face.

She spoke up. "He didn't tell me anything. It was obvious that you were working an angle—you hardly know me. Why would you introduce me to so many contacts without wanting something in return?" Young Do detected a note of bitterness in her voice that bothered him more than he cared to realize. "It doesn't take a genius to figure it out. Why else would he," she gestured over to where Young Do stood, "insist that I come?" She shrugged.

After a moment, Myung Soo grinned. "I think you've finally met your match, Young Do."

* * *

It was apparent that Myung Soo was not one to hold a grudge—after a few minutes, the three of them had settled into an easy conversation. Myung Soo had insisted on buying them a round of drinks and Eun Sang didn't have it in her heart to refuse when he was clearly trying to make amends for his actions.

As she tipped back the last of the drink, she realized that she'd made a mistake.

She was now officially drunk.

It had never been easy for her to hold her liquor, but she'd built up a tolerance working at the newspaper. Reporters worked hard and partied even harder after work—after one too many mornings spent nursing a hangover in the din of the newsroom, she learned to get away with appearing to drink more than she actually did. Then, after her life had fallen apart and she'd left the newspaper, she'd stopped drinking completely.

It was now becoming evident that she'd lost her tolerance completely.

"_Stay quiet. Don't draw attention to yourself and they won't notice."_ She fought against the rising panic.

"Is something wrong?" Her employer was looking at her strangely.

Internally, she groaned. _"Why is he so perceptive sometimes?" _She nodded at him, forcing a smile.

He frowned. "You look a little flushed."

She stood up abruptly, nearly knocking over the table in front of them. "I have to go to the bathroom," she announced, and tripped over her feet as she started towards the stairs. _"Please don't follow, please don't follow, please don't follow."_ Walking with purpose, she strode quickly down the stairs and started working her way through the mass of bodies on the main floor of the club. _"Just find the door. Get some fresh air. Walk it off."_ Eun Sang kept up her internal monologue as she fought against the crowd.

She felt something brush against her back—too close for her liking. Spinning around, she clenched her hand into a fist, her fight or flight instinct kicking in. A man stood very close, leering at her. Before she could react, he was tackled from the side. She blinked in shock as she realized who it was—her employer was on top of the man, punching wildly.

_Crap._

Grabbing at his shirt, she pulled hard. The sensation distracted him and he looked up at her. "Let's go. Now." Her voice was left no room for argument. He stood up and allowed her to ferry him out of the crowd and through the front door.

Once out on the sidewalk, Eun Sang looked around wildly for the car. His ripped shirt and the scrape on his cheek were already attracting attention—she was worried about what would happen when people started recognizing him. And his cheek— Oh god. The photoshoot. She had to get him home.

Dragging him by the hand, she walked quickly up the sidewalk, trying to put some distance between them and the people spilling out of the club. She stepped into the street, flagging wildly for a taxi.

"We can call for the car." His voice was hoarse.

"It'll take too long," she replied as a taxi pulled up in front of them. She opened the back door and urged him in, her head darting around to make sure that no one was watching. As soon as he was in, she scooted in beside him. "Zeus Hotel," she told the taxi driver.

The car pulled away from the curb smoothly and she turned to look out the back window. She didn't see anyone following. The adrenaline was starting to wear off and she could feel the effects of the alcohol catching up with her.

"Did he hurt you?" The tone of his voice was so strange that she looked over at him in confusion. She strained to make him out in the darkness—his head was down and she couldn't see his face.

"I'm fine. I'm more worried about getting ice on your cheek to keep the swelling down. I hope they can cover—"

"But did he hurt you?" His voice was urgent—insistent even.

"No."

"Good."

She reached out and touched his cheek softly where a bruise was forming. She heard a sharp intake of breath.

"Sorry," she said softly.

She made a split second decision—most likely it was an effect of the alcohol—and when she looked back on it in the future, she would wonder why her good sense chose that moment to desert her.

Scooting across the seat, she moved close to him—so close that she could feel the heat radiating from his body. Leaning in, she placed a soft kiss on the bruise. She felt his body tense and realized what she'd done.

"I'm— Sorry— I—" Realizing that she was babbling, she moved away, curling herself away from him as much as possible. "I shouldn't have done that." There was nothing she could do to hide the despair and embarrassment in her voice.

"No. You shouldn't have." The sentence was clipped. It was evident to her that he was angry.

The alcohol was swirling in her stomach, making her head feel fuzzy and unfocused. The voice of reason in her head was berating her for violating the one rule that she swore never to break again—never get emotionally involved with your employer.

She was fairly sure she had just gotten herself involved.


	10. Chapter 10

She smelled like vanilla and he wanted to taste her.

Young Do didn't like that he felt protective of her. That meant feelings were involved. Feelings ended up causing him more trouble than they were worth. If he were smart, he would fire her now—make a clean break and go back to having meaningless sex whenever he felt like it.

But instead he wanted to wrap his hands in her hair and bury his face in her neck.

He shifted uncomfortably in the seat, trying to stop thinking about how soft her skin would feel.

"How's the swelling?" Her voice was measured—clearly she'd fought against the effects of the alcohol and won.

"Uh." He realized that she was talking about his face just in time. "Fine. It doesn't hurt and they'll be able to cover it up."

The silence stretched between them as the car slipped through the city streets. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know what. Mostly he just wanted to lay her down on the seat and kiss her until the awkwardness between them was replaced with shallow breaths and bruised lips. He groaned as images filled his head.

"I should quit." She said it under her breath and he was fairly sure that he wasn't supposed to have heard. Maybe she wasn't managing the alcohol as well as he'd thought.

"Why?" he asked.

She looked startled. "I, uh—" Her face went blank. "I crossed a line. I didn't want this to happen. I wanted things to be different."

"Different?"

"It doesn't matter." She crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm attracted to you and that's a problem. It's going to affect my ability to do my job."

He didn't expect her to be so upfront about it. "Why would it do that?"

"It's a distraction. I need to be focused—I never should have made the choice to drink alcohol tonight. I was there to work, not to get caught up the way I did—and then I made you uncomfortable just now."

She had, though not for the reasons that she suspected.

"So what if you got it out of your system?" As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he knew that he was spinning a web of lies just to get her underneath him. He was an asshole. And yet, he wanted her. He wanted to know what she would look like after he kissed her.

"Don't mock me." Her voice was deadly soft.

"I'm not."

"Do you expect me just to fall into your bed? Do you think that's what's happening here?" Anger pitched her voice low and he felt a frisson of anticipation shoot up his spine.

"Just a kiss, little bird." The words came out like a caress. He was using his best techniques and for what? Just a kiss? It was as if he had no control—he wanted something, anything, from her. He wanted her to give it to him willingly—to make the choice to fall.

"You want me to kiss you because you think that will somehow resolve this between us?" Her voice was incredulous. "That's ridiculous."

He shifted tactics. "Do you want to keep working for me?"

She hesitated. "Yes."

"Why?"

"I like the work. I've enjoyed the job so far. It's a lot less pressure." The answers seemed to surprise her.

"But you're basically a babysitter," he countered.

"It's more than that."

"Is it?"

"I— I needed a change. I don't want to go into it, but— Out of that pile of applicants, you picked me. You saw something there."

"Yes." As soon as he said it, he realized it was true. Call it divine intervention or fate, but he'd felt drawn to the girl staring back at him from the terrible resume picture. The alcohol may have contributed to his calling her that night, but her wit and determination were what drew him back to her. "We have a good thing going. You're keeping me on schedule—I haven't been late again since the first day. You even got me through the commercial shoot with the baby. Why let something as simple as physical attraction ruin our professional relationship?"

He saw that the words were having some effect—perhaps because of the alcohol or maybe because she was so desperate to keep her job. Young Do didn't care. All he cared about right now was how she would taste when she finally gave in to him.

"You really think that if I kiss you it will…" She trailed off.

"It's just a kiss, little bird. You're confused right now. It's probably the alcohol. You know you're not my type—I sincerely doubt that I'm yours. We kiss, we see that there's nothing there, we get back to work."

"_Please, please, please,"_ his mind begged.

He could just make out her face in the darkness. She was wary, but thoughtful. He could see that she was weighing the decision.

Slowly, she slid toward him—her movements were cautious and deliberate—as if she were approaching a skittish animal. Turning her body to face him, she leaned closer. He shifted, moving to face her, but allowing her to control the pace. Her face inched toward him and stopped, so close that he could feel her breath on his cheek.

Young Do forced himself to remain still. He fought against the base instincts that cried out for him to close the distance between them. She had to make the decision for herself.

Her lips met his and he forgot his self-control. His arms went around her and drew her in closer. He felt her push against him, forcing him back into a half-reclined position, her body on top of his. He sucked her bottom lip between his teeth and she moaned. Her hands snaked up into his hair, pulling gently.

He could have kissed her for hours. Instead, after what felt like too brief a time, she pushed away, her face flushed and her lips swollen. Her hair was tousled in the most delicious way possible. She looked thoroughly kissed—Young Do was pleased with himself. Suddenly appearing self-conscious, she moved away from him, rubbing her lips and looking out the window.

"Thank you. I think that helped." She was still staring out the window as she spoke.

It was not what he'd expected. "It helped?" he asked, unable to keep a note of skepticism out of his voice.

"Yes." Her voice was surer now. "I can see now that what happened tonight was obviously the product of poor judgement and alcohol. I hope that we can move on from here and continue our professional relationship."

He had the distinct impression that he'd just been outmaneuvered. "Of course. Glad to hear it helped." He was angry and aroused and frustrated. "Should I drop you off first? I'd like to pick up...a friend on the way back to the hotel." Young Do hoped that the implication of his statement was clear.

"Yes, thank you." Her voice betrayed no emotion, but she still didn't look at him.

A few minutes later, the car stopped in front of her small apartment. She was out of the car and on the sidewalk before he had time to register her movement. A small, angry part of him made him roll down the window and toss out a parting shot. "I may need your help getting rid of her again in the morning."

She stopped, her back to him, then nodded and disappeared into the darkened doorway.


	11. Chapter 11

Her feet were made of lead as she trudged through the hotel lobby to the elevators the next morning. She dreaded what she would find when she knocked on the door of the hotel room. Would it be the same woman? A different one? Why did it even matter?

"_It doesn't,"_ she told herself.

Why did she have a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach?

Eun Sang's thoughts swirled as the elevator moved up. Two. _I can't have feelings for him._ Three. _That would mean there's something wrong with me._ Four. _I can't fall for my boss again._ Five. _Because that worked out so well the first time._ Six. _I really love this job._ Seven. _Or do I just love him?_ Eight. _Stop it, Eun Sang._ Nine. _How can you be in love with someone you hardly know?_ Ten. _This is just physical attraction._ The doors slid open.

She stepped out, squaring her shoulders—ready for battle.

She had barely even knocked when the door swung open, surprising her in its suddenness. Jumping back with a yelp, she felt a hand reach out and pull in her inside. She heard, rather than saw, the door shut behind her as she was pinned up against the wall.

Young Do leaned in close, his face only inches from hers. "How did you sleep?"

He wanted to know how she'd slept? "F-fine," she responded in confusion.

"Really? That's interesting. I didn't sleep well at all." He waited a beat. "Shouldn't you ask me why?"

His nearness was making it difficult for her to think straight. "Why didn't you sleep well?" The question came out in a breathy tone.

He looked at her for a long moment, then moved his lips to brush the side of her neck. "I think you know, little bird," he said softly.

Eun Sang could give in. She could let it play out and have a fleeting moment of pleasure—and then she would be out of a job and right back where she started. Instead, she placed her hand on his chest and pushed gently. "I'm sure I don't. If you're ready, I called the car on the way over here—" It was then that she realized her hand was resting on his bare chest. She pulled away quickly and straightened, standing up so that she was no longer leaning against the wall. Pulling at the hem of her shirt, she looked over to find him sauntering off toward his bedroom, not a stitch of clothing on. Quickly averting her eyes, she pulled out her notebook to check the day's schedule. "Is there someone I need to take care of in there?" she asked, her eyes pointedly fixed on the papers in front of her.

"No." She heard the door shut.

As soon as she felt it was safe, she looked up again. There was clothing strewn about, but it all appeared to be his.

He hadn't brought anyone home with him.

What did it mean?

"_It doesn't mean anything, Eun Sang."_ She shook herself and went to the kitchen to make coffee.

* * *

As soon as the door was shut, he fell face first on to the bed, his hands clenching at the bedsheets in frustration.

He wanted her. She wanted him. This should be simple. Why was she making it complicated? He could see the wheels spinning in her head every time he got near—she stopped herself. Even this morning, he watched her eyes as she pushed him away. There was desire there, but something was getting in the way.

Rolling over, he stared at the ceiling. Was it because they worked together? That didn't necessarily matter, did it? Hell, his father's third wife had been his personal secretary before they'd gotten married. Of course, it didn't last, but…

It wasn't like he wanted anything serious. Just sex. Really it was perfect. She was great at her job—and from what he'd experienced already, he imagined she was good in bed too. Working together, sleeping together—it could be comfortable and easy.

And then it hit him.

A real, live virgin.

He jumped up from the bed, throwing on clothes, before bursting back out into the living area of the suite.

"Are you virgin?"

She looked up in shock from her seat on the couch, coffee cup in hand. "What is wrong with you?" she asked.

"Well, are you?"

"What makes you think you have the right to ask me a question like that?"

"It's just a question, little bird. I'm trying to understand you."

She slammed her mug down on the coffee table and stood up. "This is sexual harassment. I don't have to put up with this." She turned and started walking to the door.

"If this is sexual harassment, what was last night?"

She froze in her tracks. "A mistake. Last night was a mistake. I already told you that. I was drunk. You were drunk. We made poor choices. The end."

"Why are you fighting this?" He watched her shoulders tense. "The physical attraction isn't going to go away. We're spending a lot of time around each other. You see me in various states of undress anyway. Let's just get it out of our system, little bird." He paused for a moment. "Unless, of course, you're not comfortable with that kind of physical relationship. That's why I asked if you were a virgin."

She spun around, fury evident in her expression. "I'm not comfortable with this conversation—period. No wonder women get pissed off after sleeping with you. You don't understand us at all."

"No. Maybe not." He regarded her thoughtfully. "I'm trying to be honest with you, though. I'm not going to lie to you and pretend that we're going to fall in love and get married and live happily ever after. I'm not interested in that. What I am interested in is you. Naked. In my bed. I can understand that my straightforward approach might make you uncomfortable, but I warned you that this is how I am. A simple yes or no will suffice. If you're not interested in my proposition, then that's fine."

Eun Sang met his gaze calmly. "No."

"Will you give me the opportunity to try and change your mind?"

"You're not going to change my mind."

"I'd still like to try."

She threw up her hands in frustration. "What about this seems like a good idea? You want to seduce me. Fine. What happens then? You can't just throw me out like the other women. I'm your employee." Her hands dropped to her sides and a look of fear flitted over her face. "You're going to fire me." She sounded defeated.

"I think there's a balance to be found between the personal and the professional. I can keep them separate, can you?"

"I—" For a moment, he thought she might actually be considering it, then she glanced at her watch. "We have to go. Now. Or we're going to be late." She rushed over to the coffee table and grabbed her bag and notebook, hurrying him out of the hotel room.


	12. Chapter 12

The ride to the shoot was uncomfortably silent.

She didn't know what to say to him and she knew that it wasn't the end of the discussion. Instead, she worked on his schedule for the next few weeks and answered emails on her phone. Once, when she risked a glance at him, she found that he was slouched in the seat, head back and eyes closed. It was apparent that their conversation had bothered her more than him.

When they pulled up to the building, she looked over and found that he was still dozing. She reached her hand out and shook his shoulder gently. His eyelids sprung open and he reached up to grab her hand. Locking eyes with her, he brought her wrist up to his mouth and placed a gentle kiss on it.

She snatched her hand away and exited the car, slamming the door hard. Her wrist still tingled as she followed him into the building.

Once in the studio, Choi Young Do was whisked away into wardrobe and Eun Sang found herself standing in the shadows. She located a chair placed in such a way to allow her to observe the shoot without being in the way of the assistants. Eun Sang sank into it gratefully, suddenly feeling the effects of the emotional strain of the morning's conversation. She rubbed her temples and scrolled through more emails, marking several for discussion with her employer for possible bookings.

She heard the buzz of activity die down suddenly and she looked up to find that Choi Young Do was now out of wardrobe and makeup, engaged in an intense discussion with the photographer. (She was pleased to see that he was fully dressed.) They finally seemed to reach an understanding and he moved to the set, arranging himself on artfully draped rugs. Eun Sang watched for a moment, then turned her attention back to her phone. A few minutes later, she heard shocked murmurs bouncing off the high ceilings. She looked up again and found that her employer was staring at her. As he moved from one pose to the next, he never stopped staring.

She couldn't look away.

The photographer shifted positions, moving to stand just to the left of Eun Sang's seat in the shadows. He gave her an apologetic smile. "I don't mean to get in the way. I just want to make sure I can get the shot."

"I can leave." She started to gather her things, eager to escape the scrutiny of her employer and the photographer's assistants.

"No." Choi Young Do's voice rang out in a stern command. "Don't go anywhere."

The photographer shot her a panicked look. She sank back down into the chair. He quickly began snapping photos again.

Over the course of an hour, Choi Young Do's eyes told her things that she didn't want to know—they made her dark promises. She heard the murmurs increase to a dull roar until the photographer ordered the studio cleared.

Eun Sang wanted to look away.

The sensible part of her brain told her that this was a mess she was going to need to clean up—the news was probably already spreading online. The last thing she wanted was the attention this would bring. She'd wanted to disappear into the background—to do a job and do it well and forget about the things in her past.

Eun Sang wanted to look away, but she didn't.

She watched the way his body stretched—the way his hair fell on his cheekbone—the way his eyes filled with fire when he realized that she was finally seeing him. She drank her fill of his beauty in a way that she had never allowed herself to before. His movements became languid as he made the argument for her seduction.

Eun Sang wanted to give in to him.

"I think I've got everything I need. Thank you." The voice of the photographer broke the spell. Blinking her eyes, she stood, trying to regain her bearings. Choi Young Do had disappeared into the wardrobe area.

The photographer approached her and spoke quietly. "Thank you for your help. I'm— I'm sorry." Eun Sang assumed that he was referring to the gossip that was assuredly spreading at that very moment. She nodded her head in thanks, her cheeks red.

In a flash, she was pulled away from him. Choi Young Do grabbed her hand and lead her out past the remaining assistants—out into the hallway and through the glass doors leading to the outside. The car was waiting at the curb. He opened the door and deposited her in the back seat, before closing the door and walking around to the other side. As he got in, he spoke curtly to the driver. "Back to the the hotel." Then he raised the privacy screen and reached for her, pulling her into the middle seat, so close that their arms and legs touched.

"I—"

"Please don't talk yet. I don't want to do this in the car."

"_Do what in the car?"_ Her pulse pounded in her head. "I just—"

"Please, little bird." His voice sounded strained.

She fell silent.

* * *

The ride to the hotel was the longest ride of Young Do's life. He was frustrated and aroused and ready to get her alone in his suite so that they could work things out—preferably in his bed.

He saw the way that she looked at him during the photoshoot. He knew he'd won.

He held on to her hand the entire way up to his room. As soon as they entered the suite, he took her face in his hands and kissed her.

She kissed him back.

Young Do broke away long enough to pull his shirt off over his head, then he went back to kissing her. His hands worked his way under her shirt and he nearly lost control when he felt her skin. He started to work it up over her head and she pushed herself back from him forcefully, pulling her shirt from his hand.

"Stop."

He looked at her in frustration. "Why?"

"Because this isn't a good idea. Stop thinking with your—hormones—and start thinking logically." Her voice was tense with frustration.

"Sex isn't logical, it's fun. I want to have fun; you don't seem completely uninterested. Stop overthinking this."

"I can't do that. That's not how it works for me."

Young Do ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "What do you want from me?"

"Me?" She asked incredulously. "I'm not the one who started this. I've told you already, I'm not interested—I'm not interested in casual sex and relationships of convenience. All I want to do is my job. Apparently that's not good enough for you."

"Why did you kiss me back just now?"

She exploded in rage. "What do you want to hear from me? That I'm attracted to you? I am. Absolutely. But I can't do this again—" Her face went white.

Things suddenly started to fall into place. "What do you mean do this again? Is that why you left your other job?"

"I'm not discussing this with you. If that's all for today, I'll be going. You have a meeting tomorrow at ten with Ms. Yoo. There's an interview at two for the magazine you shot for today. I've looked into the interviewer—she's not known for her hard hitting journalism skills. You shouldn't have any issues." She turned away from him and started walking to the door, then stopped and turned to look at him. "I would prefer that this is the last time that something like this occurs, sir. If you feel that's a problem for you, I need you to let me know now so that I can resign my position."

"I'd like it if you'd accompany me to both meetings, little bird."

"First, tell me if this is the last time that we'll be having a discussion about casual sex."

Things weren't casual for Young Do anymore—frustrating, aggravating, confusing, but not casual. He felt only a twinge of guilt as he replied. "I will not bring up casual sex again."

He watched her features soften—a wash of relief spread over her face and his twinge of guilt turned into a larger pinch. "I'll be here at nine tomorrow morning. We can go over a few things before we leave for the meeting with Ms. Yoo." She turned away from him again and he watched her leave, not moving until the door clicked softly shut behind her.

He immediately walked into the bathroom and started running the water for a cold shower.


	13. Chapter 13

As soon as they entered the office the next morning, Choi Young Do took up a reclining position in his normal spot on the couch to the left of Rachel's desk. Cha Eun Sang watched as she rose from her desk to move to his side, towering over him in her heels, impeccable skirt, and tailored blouse. Her arms were crossed over her chest and thoughts of murder were evident on her face.

"What did I tell you about screwing the help?" she asked him in a clipped tone.

He continued to stare up at the ceiling. "We haven't screwed. That's not for lack of trying on my part, though."

From the corner, Eun Sang heard his words and flushed with anger and embarrassment—she refused to respond to the bait.

"And you." She whirled around to face Eun Sang. "I thought you knew better. I warned you that—"

"Excuse me, Ms. Yoo." Eun Sang broke in, eager to deflect the interrogation. "As Mr. Choi stated just a moment ago, we are not intimately involved. At all. This is all just a misunderstanding."

Rachel's eyes narrowed. "A misunderstanding?" She picked up a tablet from her desk and thrust it at Eun Sang. "Does this look like a misunderstanding?"

Scanning the headline, Eun Sang felt her stomach churn. "Jeguk Daily's Heir Abandoned by Scheming Ex-Fiancee!" Just below, the text asked "Did She Trade Him in for an Upgraded Model?"

"And just when exactly did you plan on revealing the rest of—"

Eun Sang slammed the tablet down hard, surprising Rachel into silence. "I'd prefer not to discuss that. I don't think that has any bearing on the current situation."

Choi Young Do stood abruptly, moving to the desk to pick up the abandoned tablet. Eun Sang realized too late what he was doing and made a futile grab for his shirt to stop him. He shrugged out of her grasp. With rising horror, Eun Sang watched as he read the screen.

"As you can see, Young Do, this has caused a very serious PR situation for us." Rachel crossed her arms over her chest again. "I don't know what happened between you two, but I've already had three phone calls from companies wanting to pull out because of their advertising contracts with Jeguk Publishing Group. They're afraid of angering the Chairman."

Young Do seemed not to hear Rachel. As he finished reading, he looked up and met Eun Sang's eyes. "Is this true?"

Eun Sang couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze and so she looked away. "Some of it. The basic facts."

"Were you put up to this by Kim Tan?"

"No. No." She looked back at him in horror. "Never. I would never— You picked me out of the pile. There's no way—"

Young Do slammed the tablet back down on Rachel's desk, and the accompanying crunching sound made her wince. He faced Rachel. "I will get to the bottom of this. Do as much damage control as you can."

Rachel scoffed. "You're not seriously thinking of continuing to employ her? You can't. You'll be dropped."

"They won't drop me. They're bluffing. They have to look like they're outraged for the sake of appearances. Nothing will come of it." Young Do didn't look away from Eun Sang as he spoke. She felt like he was trying to strip away her carefully constructed layers of protection to find out what lay beneath—it made her squirm.

Rachel's voice broke in. "Young Do. Stop thinking with your dick. She's just an assistant—and not a particularly well-qualified one at that. We don't need this added hassle—"

He cut her off. "If you'll excuse us for a moment, Rachel."

Rachel blinked at Young Do in shock. "This is my office. Where exactly am I supposed to go?"

He gave Rachel a look that Eun Sang couldn't decipher. "If you'll excuse us?" He emphasized each word and Eun Sang had been around him long enough to know that it meant he was very angry.

Rachel rolled her eyes and walked out, slamming the door hard behind her.

He walked slowly over to where she stood in the corner of the office. Eun Sang retreated until she felt her back hit the wall. Slowly, he continued forward, bracing his arms on either side of her head. Leaning in, he moved his face so close to hers that she could smell the scent of mouthwash on his breath.

"I—" she began.

"Don't." His voice was deadly soft. He regarded her for a long while before he spoke again. "So, you'll fuck Tan but not me?"

His insinuation that her situation boiled down to nothing more than hormones made her furious. She placed her hands on his chest and pushed. Hard. He stumbled back a few inches which allowed her to scramble away from him. Eun Sang moved so that the large office desk created a barrier between them. "You know nothing." She practically spat the words at him.

"Oh really? I know that you were or are engaged to someone who has personally made my life difficult for many years. I know that until a few months ago, you worked for his newspaper as a reporter. I also know that just recently you decided that a career change was in order. How convenient that you just happened to land a job with me. How did you get your resume past Rachel's vetting process? Do you have someone on her staff working for you?"

"If you really think that I'm here to cause you further trouble, why haven't I already? I've had plenty of opportunity and more than enough ways to get the information in the right hands. Why drag myself into it?" She slammed her hands on the desk in frustration. "Think about it."

"I don't know. A juicier headline maybe? What matters is that you're working for Tan. I want to know why."

"I'm not working for Tan!" The words came out shrill—panicked even. Eun Sang struggled to regain control over her emotions. "That's the whole point. I'm not working for Tan—at all—ever again. I wanted a clean break." She could feel tears welling in her eyes, but she fought to keep them from spilling over. She'd be damned if Kim Tan would make her cry again. "You picked me, remember? You picked me." She slammed her hand on the desk again, then turned her back on him in frustration.

"I'm supposed to believe that this is all a big coincidence?"

"Believe whatever you want. I'm telling you the truth."

"Leave. Now." His voice was cold—she didn't want to turn around and see the anger in his face.

She didn't bother looking back as she left.


End file.
